Previously, many types of manual and automatic ampule openers have been used in endeavoring to provide an effective means for producing a safe and clean method of opening medication containing ampules. Medical injection liquid medication is commonly stored in an ampule and is broken open when the dose is to be transferred to a syringe and injected into the patient. The ampule is made of thin glass and has a narrow neck and may have a cutting line etched into this neck portion between the head and the body. This feature allows the neck to be manually snapped off, exposing the liquid inside, ready for drawing into a syringe. Since the ampule is broken open by hand, sometimes the break line is sharp and uneven and may cut or injure the medical practitioner. Prior art has approached this problem by developing hand held devices that grasp the neck and break the ampule by depressing a plunger or simply. axially bending the retained neck until it breaks. Others grasp the body and score the neck prior to snapping off the head. A different precept utilize robotics with pneumatic rotary actuators that knock the head off at the neck or manually break the neck in a flexible enclosure and vacuum the debris away.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however, the following U.S. patents are considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,805,821 Kowalczyk et al Feb. 21, 1989 4,637,139 Chen Jan. 20, 1987 4,570,838 Szemere et al Feb. 18, 1986 4,417,679 Shields Nov. 29, 1983 2,515,020 Scott Jul. 11, 1950 ______________________________________
Kowalczyk et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,821 teach an automatic ampule opener for use in an automatic robotic sterility testing system. The opener includes a support plate, a knife edge mounted on the support plate and a pneumatically rotated arm that revolves and strikes the head of the ampule, which is rested on the knife edge, breaking it at the neck. The ampule is placed in the device by robotics and opened for testing the sterility of the contents within a clean room environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,139 of Chen is directed to a single manual cutter that includes a pair of shells into which an ampule is inserted. One of the shells is pivotally spring loaded. When the ampule is inserted in the cutter, it is then rotated a half of a turn, scoring the neck with a V-shaped blade. Cushioning means formed from molded resilient material hold the head and the tip is broken away from the body with a "snap-action". Releasing the clamping pressure allows the shells to separate such that the spent tip may be removed.
Szemere et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,838 discloses an elongated flat body with a ceramic neck scorer affixed to a longitudinal ledge. The body contains a row of different sized holes to accommodate heads of various sized ampules. The head is inserted in the appropriate hole and rotated against the ledge scoring the neck and then snapping off the head with a bending action.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,679 issued to Shields includes an annular flexible jacket having a cylindrical opening in one end for receiving the neck of an ampule. The jacket has holes in the periphery and the closed end contains a vacuum tube attached to an external vacuum source. The ampule is inserted into the jacket and then bent until it snaps the neck apart with the particles of glass created from the breakage inspired with the air stream into the filtered vacuum source.
Scott in U.S. Pat. No. 2,515,020 utilizes a crystal of bort riding under the influence of a soft spring that engages the sharp point of the angular bort. The ampule is inserted into the spring loaded cutting edge and rotated a full turn scoring the neck. The ampule is then removed and inserted in an appropriate hole in the opener body and with a tipping motion snapping the neck at the scored mark.